Creating stuff isn't wasting time

Clay Shirky gives a long, impassioned defense of the online class of content creators. The popular view of those people (bloggers, podcasters, YouTube videographers, etc. -- me and maybe you) is that they're sitting around wasting time in their parents' basements, when they could be doing something productive. But Shirky points out that, for decades, our default use of free time has been watching television! There is nothing less productive than that.

The new content creators represent millions of hours of creative thought that did not exist a few years ago. This is a net good for society. And it's the reason you should not be embarrassed by the idea of blogging or podcasting or producing videos that tell stories. Whether lots of people want to experience your stories or not, when you engage in those activities, you're creating something. And that's a lot more productive than watching a sitcom.